One-Pot Methods for the Protection and Assembly of Sugars

In recent years, there has been rapid expansion of glycan synthesis, fueled by the recognition that the structural complexity of sugars translates to a myriad of biological functions. Such chemical syntheses involve many challenges, mostly due to the regio- and stereochemical aspects of glycosidic bond formation. One-pot strategies were developed to assist in attaining faster and more economical access to the glycan constructs. In this front, achievements in protecting group manipulation, glycosylation, and combinations of these have been reported. Protecting group manipulations in one pot take advantage of the reaction compatibility of commonly used transformations, many of which occur in high regioselectivity. Sequential glycosylations, on the other hand, rely on leaving group orthogonalities and reactivity tuning, as well as the preactivation technique. Altogether, these approaches offer attractive means to the much needed glycan structures and, consequently, help usher in advances in glycoscience.     

Optimization of Pathogen Capture in Flowing Fluids with Magnetic Nanoparticles

Magnetic nanoparticles have been employed to capture pathogens for many biological applications; however, optimal particle sizes have been determined empirically in specific capturing protocols. Here, a theoretical model that simulates capture of bacteria is described and used to calculate bacterial collision frequencies and magnetophoretic properties for a range of particle sizes. The model predicts that particles with a diameter of 460 nm should produce optimal separation of bacteria in buffer flowing at 1 L h⁻¹. Validating the predictive power of the model, Staphylococcus aureus is separated from buffer and blood flowing through magnetic capture devices using six different sizes of magnetic particles. Experimental magnetic separation in buffer conditions confirms that particles with a diameter closest to the predicted optimal particle size provide the most effective capture. Modeling the capturing process in plasma and blood by introducing empirical constants (c_e), which integrate the interfering effects of biological components on the binding kinetics of magnetic beads to bacteria, smaller beads with 50 nm diameters are predicted that exhibit maximum magnetic separation of bacteria from blood and experimentally validated this trend. The predictive power of the model suggests its utility for the future design of magnetic separation for diagnostic and therapeutic applications.     

Effect of Ti/N Ratio on Impact Strength of High Strength Pipe Steel Welded Joint Heat-Affected Zone

Metallurgist - Kinetics of austenite grain growth within a heat-affected zone is studied for low carbon low-alloy steels of different alloying composition. The effect of Ti/N ratio on the metal...     

High‐intensity sweeteners in espresso coffee: ideal and equivalent sweetness and time–intensity analysis

The efficient substitution of sucrose by a sweetener in beverages requires the application of some sensory techniques. First, one must determine the concentrations of the sweeteners under study, equivalent in sweetness to the ideal sucrose concentration. In addition, it is fundamental to determine which is most similar to sucrose. The objectives of this study were to determine the ideal sweetness for espresso coffee and the equivalent concentrations in sweetness of different sweeteners, as well as characterise the time–intensity profile of each sweetener in relation to sweetness. The sweeteners evaluated were sucralose, aspartame, neotame, a cyclamate/saccharin mixture (2:1) and stevia. The sucrose concentration considered ideal by consumers was 12.5% (w/v), and the equivalent concentrations of the sweeteners were 0.0159% for sucralose, 0.0549% for aspartame, 0.0016% for neotame, 0.0359% for the cyclamate/saccharin mixture and 0.0998% for stevia. The time–intensity analysis indicated that possibly the sweeteners neotame, aspartame and sucralose would be the best substitutes for sucrose.